The time controls, for machines that manufacture glass articles have been well known for a long time. These glass article manufacturing machines generally consist of drums which have a plurality of cams that directly and mechanically move a series of actuating valves of the individual mechanisms of the machine. These actuating valves operate the mechanisms in a predetermined sequence dictated by the programming of the manufacturing run that is being undertaken, and, the manufacturing process is subordinated to the speed of the machine which in turn is set according to the desired time cycle. It is also well-known that in this type of machine it is impossible to change any of the cams while the machine is functioning. The speed of the mechanisms is a constant and cannot be varied at will during production cycle.
As it is also well-known, time controls which consist of a timing drum provided with mechanical cams have been slowly substituted by electronic timing controls. The first of these substitutions were merely electronic circuits (without a major change with respect to their performance) which were to be substituted for the traditional drums. Later electronic circuits were developed to carry out independent functions, i.e., so that the electronic control can introduce variables with respect to the starting time and the duration of operation, as well as the speeds of operation of the different mechanisms of the machine.
In spite of the fact that the present electronic timer controls are highly efficient, and can carry out the production function at a much greater speed, these electronic timer controls do not have the capacity to determine the speed characteristics for each one of the machine's mechanisms as subordinate to the geometry of the article. It is for this reason that with such electronic timer controls, it is necessary to individually set the speed mechanisms through the use of manually operated valves.
The requirement for a fully electronic control is one which is known in the art. The intention is that by merely providing the control system with information of the parameters of the geometry of an article to be produced, as well as the production cycle desired, the control must be capable of calculating the starting times, speeds of the individual mechanisms, finishing times, and other similar functions of a glass article manufacturing machine. It should also be able to calculate the time of the desired cycle, and be capable of carrying out the operations at an adequate speed, and, with speed profiles that are also adequate to satisfy the needs of a particular geometry of the articles to be produced.
The electronic timer controls that exist in previous techniques, however, are not capable of carrying out said functions and therefore they are not satisfactory. An operative electronic control would greatly facilitate changes in speed and other functions of the various mechanisms of the glass article forming machine, particularly if speed changes could be made without the need of operator intervention, i.e., without the need that the operator himself introduce to the electronic timer control an operating table specific to a predetermined article as related to its particular geometry and its time of production.